AOC Becomes First in Congress to Call for Full FOSTA/SESTA Repeal

While a few members of Congress have now called for a “study” of how the 2018 FOSTA/SESTA law has affected sex workers, as well as curtailed free speech online, no House representative or U.S. senator had called for the law’s full repeal—until last week. First-term New York City rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez last Friday said that the supposed anti-sex trafficking law has sent “sex workers into the streets into an enormously dangerous situation, creating far more harm and danger,” as quoted by Politico reporter Cristiano Lima, via his Twitter account.  Ocasio-Cortez told Lima that she believes the law "should be repealed.” A recent study found that one of every three sex workers say they have faced increased danger of violence and abuse on their jobs since passage of the law in April of 2018. The law also runs the danger of severely restricting online expression, by gutting Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Section 230 is considered the foundation of open internet communication, because it exempts sites from legal liability for posts made by third parties. Without Section 230, any social media platform, service provider or online forum would be forced to police every post of content made by any user—a requirement so unwieldy it would have the effect of simply censoring or shutting down the free exchange of ideas and information online. Though data suggests that by forcing sex workers out of relatively safe online spaces and onto the streets, FOSTA/SESTA has actually had the effect of increasing sex trafficking activity, the call for the laws’ repeal by Ocasio-Cortez drew a backlash from conservatives. “AOC is a-ok with re-opening the floodgates of human trafficking online—but I am NOT,” wrote Texas Republican congressional rep Pete Olson on his Twitter account. “Repeal SESTA-FOSTA? NO WAY!” Popular right-wing online personality Charlie Kirk called Ocasio-Cortez “sick,” saying, “This bill led to the voluntary shut down of numerous websites which sold underage children for sex. Why would AOC oppose that?” Iowa Republican Senator Josh Hawley, who has introduced a bill to effectively repeal Section 230, as AVN.com has reported, also slammed Ocasio-Cortez, saying that her call to repeal FOSTA/SESTA is a “huge giveaway to Big Tech—and sex traffickers.” “It's literally neither of those things,” wrote TechDirt reporter Mike Masnick on Monday. “The idea that partisan idiots are jumping on this just because of who is suggesting it is perhaps not surprising, but still disappointing.” Photo by nrkbeta / Wikimedia Commons